Sponsored by
Songwriter impresses audience
Boo Hewerdine is a big celebrity, in more ways than one. He's tall, broad, and if you met him in a dark alley, you're unlikely to assess him as the sensitive type.
I'd never heard him sing before, so I was intrigued to hear why he has a reputation for being one of the UK's tenderest songwriters.
As the first half progressed, it soon became apparent. While he sings beautifully and with confidence, he does so softly, and with a wry sense of humour. Definitely a gentle giant. I was hooked.
He started his performance with his Bafta-nominated hit – Patience of Angels – a beautiful song in so many ways; understated yet wonderfully evocative and with an entrancing melody.
Other hits followed, including New Year’s Eve, Amen, Harvest Gypsies and White Lilies (ably accompanied by local pianist Mark Gordon). He finished the first set with Murder in the Dark. Sensational? Violent? No. A song about rejection in the marital bed.
Boo first came to prominence in the 1980s as one of the founder members of the Bible and it therefore seemed appropriate that the second set included Bible Pages, another recent hit.
Perhaps the most well-known song in the second hour was Bell, Book and Candle, an undoubted favourite with many of those present including Mark Gordon who, once again, accompanied Boo with suitable restraint and tenderness.
If the clamour for CDs at the end of the gig was any indication, Boo had clearly impressed the audience. "Why isn't this guy better known?" I thought, as I joined the queue. I've been playing Toy Box No 2 ever since.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Scarborough
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light snow
Temperature: 0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -2 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: South
